Far from having an idyllic Cosby-esque existence, Brown’s childhood years were fraught with poverty and struggle. Jill Scott, who plays Brown’s second wife, DeeDee Brown, gave some insight on Brown’s creative genius:

“We watch these people, we buy their music, we see them in concert but we don’t know what it takes to make this passionate soul-stirring music,” she told TheUrbanDaily.com. “His hurts were many.”

The Urban Daily sat down with Scott and co-star Nelsan Ellis (who plays Brown’s music partner Bobby Byrd) as they shared what they learned about the late soul singer, which James Brown song Scott would find to be the most challenging to perform.